Southern California -- this just in

In Steubenville rape trial, social media call out injustice, CNN

March 18, 2013 | 12:00
pm

One step
forward, two steps back: What a relief that the judge in the Steubenville, Ohio,
rape case found two star high school football players guilty of sexually
assaulting an incapacitated teenage girl without placing any onus on the
victim.

But how
appalling that two of CNN’s most high-profile female journalists, Candy
Crowley and Poppy Harlow, chose to focus on the tragedy… that had befallen the
young men, Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond.

“What’s the
lasting effect though on two young men being found guilty in juvenile court of
rape, essentially?” an emotional Crowley asked a legal expert on Sunday, shortly
after Juvenile Court Judge Thomas Lipps made his ruling.

Harlow added
that Richmond’s father, reportedly an absentee parent and alcoholic who had spent time in
prison, had leaned over in the courtroom to tell his son he loved him--
something, according to Richmond’s lawyer, the father had never done.

“An
incredibly emotional day,” said Harlow.

Yes, ladies,
it was.

But not for
the reasons you focused on.

It was
incredibly emotional because justice has been denied for so long and so often
to young female rape victims who have been told explicitly or otherwise that
they are to blame for being raped: You shouldn’t have worn that, shouldn’t have
drunk that, shouldn’t have been out so late.

Bless Judge Lipps for his description of the evidence
as “profane” and “ugly,” for his warning about alcohol as “a particular danger”
and for his clear-eyed verdict.

And bless social media for proving the guilt of these
young narcissists, who probably would never have been charged, let alone
convicted had they not memorialized their bad behavior on Instagram and
YouTube. An unconscious victim is so often a perfect victim.

As for CNN’s
insensitive take on the verdicts, which has inspired a social media backlash, empathy belongs to the victim, who
had no idea what had befallen her until photos and videos began circulating on
the Internet. Imagine the nightmare of knowing you’d been raped while
unconscious. Talk about lasting effects.

Mays, 17,
and Richmond, 16, wept in court as the judge pronounced them guilty of the
six-hour episode that took place last August.

Mays was
also found guilty of distributing a nude image of the victim. “No
pictures should have been taken, let alone sent around,” he said.

Richmond
sobbed, saying, “My life is over. No one is going to want me now.”

Did he mean
no college football team will recruit him? Boo hoo.

When
Richmond approached the victim and her family to apologize, his defense
attorney embraced and comforted him like a mother would a toddler who had
scraped his knee: There, there, it’s all right. Shush.

But it was
not all right, and the attorney should have let the young man stand alone, in
his pain, to apologize for the horrific way he treated a helpless young woman.

The young
men, lucky to have been tried as juveniles, will spend time in detention. They
will have to register as sex offenders. “That will haunt them for the rest of
their lives,” said CNN legal expert Paul Callan.

But this is
not the end of the case.

Ohio Atty.
Gen. Mike DeWine announced he will convene a grand jury to investigate who
disseminated the photos and videos of the young woman in distress. There could
be more criminal charges to come, including obstruction of justice, failure to
report a felony and failure to report child abuse. He noted that 16 people refused to
talk to investigators about the crime.

And he added
something that needed to be said to a nation that all too often is willing to
ignore the grotesque behavior of entitled young sports stars and blame victims
for the crimes that befall them: “It’s happening in your neighborhood, happening
in your town, your village, your city.”